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The White Canvas A catalogue for the exhibition by Shatha Altowai
Shatha AltowaiThe White Canvas: An Exhibition Catalogue
This series of occasional papers is published by The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities
The University of Edinburgh2 Hope Park Square
Edinburgh EH8 9NW
Published July 2021Copyright © the author 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.
ISSN 2041-8817 (Print)ISSN 2634-7342 (Online)ISBN 978-0-9532713-2-0
Institute Occasional Papers, 22
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC00533
The White Canvas An exhibition catalogue
The Institute for Advanced Studies in the HumanitiesThe University of Edinburgh, 2021
[email protected] www.iash.ed.ac.uk
@APF_IIE
@artistprotectionfund
www.artistprotectionfund.org
The White Canvas is award-winning Yemeni artist Shatha Altowai’s first exhibition in Scotland.
In this series, Shatha addresses the issues that she has experienced and observed throughout her life in Yemen, specifically focussing on the last seven years since the eruption of the current war. She aims to highlight the lifestyles of Yemeni families living through the war, their solidarity, and how they seek to overcome the lack of basic necessities, such as food, water, electricity, fuel, and security. Her work conveys the contradictory emotions of strength and fear that Yemeni families grapple with as part of their everyday experience.
Shatha began to focus on the topic of family upon her arrival in Edinburgh, where she recognised how Yemeni families were forced to adapt to abnormal ways of living. The paintings presented here contain the emotions that this has elicited, and those she feels when she easily accesses and enjoys those basic needs in Edinburgh that Yemeni families struggle to attain.
Shatha numbers the families, rather than naming them, to reflect the attitudes of the Yemeni and international media, which reduce struggling families to bare numbers and statistics.
Shatha’s work is mostly inspired by the music of her husband, Saber Bamatraf (see page 22 for more information on Saber’s music). Together, they illustrate the concept of The White Canvas exhibition through the piece ‘There Was a Family Here’. The painting is entirely white, with a simple texture that mimics the repetitive structure of Saber’s composition titled ‘The White Canvas’. Played on the piano using the white keys of the D minor scale, the music evokes a sense of melancholy and contemplation, encouraging viewers to look thoughtfully at, and engage with, the whiteness of the painting for a long time.
The White Canvas An exhibition at the University of Edinburgh, July 2021
Page 4
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/saberbamatraf/the-white-canvas
Shatha Altowai is a Yemeni artist. She is an IIE-Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellow in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh. Shatha has been creating art since 2014. She has presented at several art galleries in Yemen and beyond, and has won multiple awards for her art, including the John Byrne Award in April 2021.
Shatha graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology with Honours from the University of Utara Malaysia (2014) in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. After earning her degree, Shatha held several administrative and technical positions in the Yemeni private sector. In 2018, she left those positions and decided to fully engage in her passion for art.
Creating art in a war-torn country, in which most of the population is dependent upon aid for basic survival, is not an easy thing. Even harder is the struggle to live safely and securely. Shatha has previously avoided touching on sensitive political and social topics through her art. Despite this, she has experienced hardships in her artistic journey, including serious damage to her house in 2015, and the threats she and her musician husband received in 2018 as a result of a cyberbullying campaign launched against them after the release of their short documentary film, Voice of the Rainbow. Nevertheless, Shatha has continued to pursue her passion in art and encouraging social change through her engagement in the artistic and youth community in Yemen.
Much of Shatha’s work reflects aspects of life in her society, and the suffering caused by the ongoing civil war in Yemen. Through her figurative, cubist, and abstract paintings, Shatha seeks to shed light on issues such as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), women, coexistence, and families in Yemen.
Shatha has a shared art practice with her husband Saber Bamatraf, the pianist and music composer. Their marriage in 2014 was their artistic turning point. They have discussed their experiences as a married couple living in a very conservative society in a number of initiatives, including their TED Talk at TEDxLIUSana’a, ‘Synaesthesia’, and the documentary film Voice of the Rainbow.
shathaaltowai.com
ShathaAltowaiArt
@shatha.altowai
@altowaishatha
Shatha Altowai
Page 5
Family No. 1, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 6
Family No. 2, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 7
Family No. 3, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 8
Family No. 4, 2021Oil painting on canvas board20 x 16 inches
Page 9
Family No. 5, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 10
Family No. 6, 2021Oil painting on canvas board20 x 16 inches
Page 11
Family No. 7, 2021Oil painting on canvas board20 x 16 inches
Page 12
Family No. 8, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 13
Family No. 9, 2021Oil painting on canvas board20 x 16 inches
Page 14
Family No. 10, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 15
Family No. 11, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 16
Family No. 12, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 17
Family No. 13, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 18
Family No. 14, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 19
Family No. 15, 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 20
There was a family here… 2021Oil painting on canvas board16 x 12 inches
Page 21
Saber’s latest album release, Embrace from Edinburgh, is available on all digital platforms through the QR code below. It contains seven New Age tracks that Saber has composed since arriving in Edinburgh. In this album, he expresses the inspiration he has drawn from living in a peaceful environment, and the sense of courage and hope he has felt while immersed in the natural and historic Edinburgh landscape, after six traumatic years of uncertainty in a war-torn country.
Saber Bamatraf is a Yemeni pianist and music composer who has participated in both solo and group musical performances and projects. He is a self-taught pianist who does not read music, but has played music by ear since childhood.
Saber graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology with Honours from the University of Utara Malaysia (2013) in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital. He then worked for the humanitarian sector in security and operations management for seven years, while maintaining his voluntary community engagement in artistic, cultural and musical events.
Saber began focusing more on composition in 2014, with the release of his debut album Turning Point. He also began working to renew Yemeni folk poetic music through ‘Yamaniat’, a playlist he recently launched. Saber works to reconceptualise the Yemeni work spread throughout Arabia by focusing solely on instrumentals. This way, he attempts to represent the Yemeni musical legacy and heritage in a style that can be enjoyed worldwide.
Saber has been awarded an IIE-Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellowship 2020-21. He is in residence at IASH.
saberbamatraf.com
saberbamatrafmusic
@saberbamatraf
@bamatrafsaber
Saber Bamatraf
Page 22
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/saberbamatraf/embrace-from-edinburgh-2
1. Europe Redefined. Richard McAllister. 1991. ISBN 0 9514854 1 5.
2. Europe: Ways Forward. Mark Russell and Richard McAllister. 1992. ISBN 0 9514854 2 3.
3. Constitutions and Indigenous Peoples. Ninian Stephen and Paul Reeves. 1993. ISBN 0 9514854 3 1.
4. Indigenous Peoples & Ethnic Minorities. Peter Jones. 1993. ISBN 0 9514854 4 X.
5. Educational Values. Peter Jones. 1994. ISBN 0 9514854 5 8.
6. Family Values in the Mediterranean. Peter Jones. 1994. ISBN 0 9514854 6 6.
7. Post-Communist Transition: Realities and Perspectives. Ivan Antonovich. 1996. ISBN 0 9514854 7 4.
8. Value, Values and the British Army. Patrick Mileham. 1996. ISBN 0 9514854 8 2.
9. Commonwealth Lectures. Peter Jones (ed.). 1997. ISBN 0 9514854 9 0.
10. Darwin’s Voyage: Circumnavigation, World History and the Sublime. Ian Duncan. 2009. ISBN 978 0 9532713 4 4.
11. Darwin in Scotland. David Fergusson. 2009. ISBN 978 0 9532713 5 1.
12. Charles Darwin: Some Scottish Connections. Walter M. Stephen. 2009. ISBN 978 0 9532713 6 8.
13. Edinburgh, Enlightenment and Darwin’s Expression of the Emotions. Gregory Radick. 2009. ISBN 978 0 9532713 7 5.
14. Evolving Creation. John Polkinghorne. 2009. ISBN 978 0 9532713 8 2.
15. Conversation: and the Reception of David Hume. Peter Jones. 2011. ISBN 978 0 9532713 9 9.
16. Gathering Uncertainties: A Conversation Between Playwright Linda McLean and Susan Manning. 2011. ISBN 978 0 9568610 0 9.
17. Hume and Searle: the ‘Is/Ought’ Gap versus Speech Act Theory. Daniel Schulthess. 2011. ISBN 978 0 9568610 1 6.
18. Hume’s Intellectual Development: an Overview. James Harris. 2011. ISBN 978 0 9568610 2 3.
19. Reason, Induction and Causation in Hume’s Philosophy. Don Garrett and Peter Millican, 2011. ISBN 978 0 9568610 3 0.
20. The Enlightened Virago: Princess Dashkova through the Eyes of Others and Princess Dashkova, the Woman Who Shook the World. Georgina Barker (ed.). 2019. ISBN 0 9532713 0 6.
21. Humanities of the Future: Perspectives from the Past and Present. Ben Fletcher-Watson and Jana Phillips (eds.). 2020. ISBN 0 9532713 1 3.
To order, please contact:
The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, The University of Edinburgh, Hope Park Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW, Scotland.
[email protected] www.iash.ed.ac.uk
IASH Occasional Papers
An initiative of Institute of International Education, the Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF) fills a critical unmet need by protecting threatened artists and placing them at welcoming host institutions in safe countries where they can
continue their work and plan for their futures. IIE-APF places these artists in safe havens for a full year and provides fellowship funding, mentoring, and inclusion in a comprehensive network of artistic and social support.
Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF)
Institute Occasional PapersISSN 2041-8817 (Print)ISSN 2634-7342 (Online)ISBN 978-0-9532713-2-0
